Early January 2017 Gulf Coast storm complex
In early January 2017, a major storm complex developed and produced a tornado outbreak, winter storm, blizzard and ice storm in areas ranging from the Southern United States to New England. Tornadoes impacted areas around the Gulf Coast. Several states, especially Georgia and Tennessee, were hit with heavy rain and snow causing severe floods. As the system moved through the Great Lakes region, heavy rain, ice pellets and heavy snow fell in the entire region. Wintry mix moved through southern Ontario and Quebec had significant snowfall on January 9. Almost 60 people were killed in the storm system and its aftermath, which made it one of the deadliest of such systems of 2017 in the United States. __TOC__ 'Meteorological History' are on the right, and snowfall on the left.]] On January 1, a weak disturbance moved ashore on the West Coast. The disturbance started to move southeastwards into the Southwestern United States early on January 2. Continuing to slowly move east, snow began to fall in the Upper Midwest, dropping up to 5–8 inches (13–20 cm), before rapidly dissipating. As the initial area of low pressure moved over the Gulf Coast, a southwards dip in the jet stream to the west had formed. In response to this, an upper level low developed by evening on January 5. This upper-level low began to track to the north, drawing moisture from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. As it did so, a long cluster of heavy showers and thunderstorms erupted from eastern Louisiana to southwestern North Carolina, which set up a severe flooding event. Some areas picked up to over 1 foot (12 in) of rainfall, triggering several floods. At the same time, supercells began to appear in Mississippi and western Alabama. One of these produced an EF4 wedge tornado which ripped through parts of Tupelo, Mississippi causing major damage. As the storm complex began to move to the north, more supercells began to pop up with several more tornadoes being reported. By early on January 6, the supercells had begun to merge into a squall line, with tornado reports beginning to diminish, but occasionally a few isolated tornadoes would be produced by the storm until January 7. While producing severe weather in the Deep South, the storm complex produced heavy snow and blizzard conditions in the southwestern parts of Texas through January 5–6, as frigid temperatures had spilled south into the area just the previous day before. Strong winds contributed to power outages and blowing and drifting snow. The snowfall continued throughout the majority of January 7, before tapering off near midnight as the storm system began to pull out of the region. In total, the storm complex dumped up to 2 feet (24 in) of snow in the affected areas, which also included Arkansas and northern Louisiana, are very rare occurrence. The storm had also produced a small but significant ice storm in the central parts of Texas, with ice accumulations ranging up to 1 inch (25 mm) in some areas, leading to thousands of power outages. 'Impact' 'Tornado outbreak' On January 5, 2017, the tornado outbreak portion of the storm system, with 31 tornadoes total confirmed, began when 12 tornadoes impacted Mississippi, Alabama, and southern Tennessee that evening; storms almost entirely blanketed Mississippi at one point, and added to the highest tornado death count in the U.S. for the month of January since 1953. An EF3 tornado moved through multiple subdivisions in Whitebury and Columbus, destroying numerous homes and two churches. Nineteen people in Tupelo, Mississippi died as a result of a large and powerful EF4 wedge tornado that destroyed many homes across the city. Additional tornadoes touched down across the Southern United States throughout the next day on January 6 and into January 7. Most of these tornadoes were weak, though several EF2 tornadoes caused considerable damage. More than 65,000 people lost power in the area due to the tornadoes. 'Flooding' 'Winter storm' The combination of heavy snow, strong winds, and bitterly cold temperatures resulted in blizzard conditions across most of Arkansas, northeastern Louisiana, western Oklahoma and West Texas. Some places in this area had over 1–3 ft (30–91 cm) of snow but also snow drifts up to 12 feet (370 cm) high. In the path of this Louisiana low, a swath of snow and ice impacted the southeastern and northeastern states from Mississippi to New York as the storm system moved northeastward toward the eastern Great Lakes. The storm system spread a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to New York State and New England, disrupting travel in the region. At least 1 person in Mississippi, and 4 people in Kentucky died as a direct result of the winter storm system. 'Confirmed tornadoes' 'January 5 event' 'January 6 event' 'January 7 event' Category:Tornadoes Category:Outbreaks